2017-7 Stop U.S. Cyber War Against North Korea

PASS

Vote Tally: Yes-574 No-29

Resolution:

Whereas, in early 2014, President Obama “ordered Pentagon officials to step up their cyber and electronic strikes against North Korea’s missile program in hopes of sabotaging test launches in their opening seconds,” (New York Times,March 4, 2017), and

Whereas, as a result of the secret U.S. cyberwarfare, also known as the “left of launch” program, the North’s medium-range missiles began to explode in midair at a remarkable rate, achieving nearly 90% failure rate in 2016, and

Whereas, such cyberattacks, probably launched by the U.S. Cyber Command, against the military command and control system of DPRK (North Korea)—causing substantial physical damage on the country’s missiles and military system—may constitute an illegal “use of force against the territorial integrity” of another country, in violation of the UN Charter’s Article 2 (4), as well as a crime of aggression under international law, and

Whereas, such cyberattacks also violate the Korean War Armistice Agreement’s Article 2A(12), which requires the “Commanders of the opposing sides” to “enforce a complete cessation of all hostilities in Korea,” and

Whereas, such U.S. cyber warfare against North Korea’s missile program may cause a major accident in Korea or invite a cyber and/or conventional military retaliation by the North, which may well escalate into an open armed conflict, and

Therefore Be It Resolved, Veterans for Peace…

Calls upon the U.S. government to offer an apology to DPRK, and stop its dangerous cyberattacks against the country immediately;

Calls upon the U.S. Congress to hold open hearings to find real truth about the reported cyberattacks against DPRK; and

Urges VFP members and local Chapters to send a copy of this resolution to their respective members of Congress.

Board Reasoning:

With recognition that multiple countries engage in cyber warfare, and that the U.S. is still, as Dr. King said, the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, the board’s position is that:

We must do everything in our power to urge our government to cease waging any kind of war, cyber warfare included, and that it is our responsibility to address the actions of our own government first and foremost.

Convention Vote:

Pro:

Cyber warfare is a new development in the history of human warfare. The US now has a military command called US Cyber Command, which can engage in both defensive and offensive cyber operations against another country's internet and computer systems, including military command and control system.

While the US government accused N. Korea for hacking Sony Pictures' computer system in Nov. 2014 to stop showing an assassination film against the N. Korean leader, we now know that the US broke into N. Korea's computer system from 2010 on. Who is a real rogue State?

According to the NYT report in March 2017, Obama ordered Pentagon to step up US cyberattacks against N. Korea's missile program in early 2014. In addition, Washington Post reported on Sept. 30, 2017 that Trump also signed a directive early in his administration outlining a strategy of pressure against DPRK that involved actions by many government agencies. As a result, the Cyber Command conducted offensive operations against a N. Korean government agency, denying it internet access.

VFP never took any official position on this kind of issue before. But it is about time now for VFP to adopt an official resolution to condemn offensive cyberattacks against another country

that result in property damage, denial of service, or personal injury--as a serious violation of international law as well as a threat to international peace and security.

Thus, the sponsors of this resolution urge VFP members to vote in favor of this historic resolution.